Boy Who Couldn't Cry Wolf
by Emo-Shukun
Summary: Toushirou and Momo attend to a new school in a new town. On the first day of school, a wolf protects him from harm. Once arriving at school, he's told to join all classes and club activities with Ichigo. Toushirou must learn who he has feelings for soon!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01**

**Boy who Couldn't cry Wolf**

**Now—**

Fifteen years-old, mute, and somewhat of a loner in this new city called Karakura Town.

Hitsugaya Toushirou had moved here with his stepsister of a different father, Hinamori Momo, and their grandmother from their mother's side. Neither of them had parents of any sort, due to death or jail, but they still had the elder acting as their guardian while she still could. Recently, she had been very ill for the past month of two, and the two teenagers worried about her health above anything else. It was an early Monday morning where they had to go to school a little early in order to gather their papers and schedules. The only way they could avoid being harassed for walking to school together was to leave home five minutes apart and meet up there instead. Momo was too busy stuffing her face to be the first to leave their two-bedroom apartment, so he decided that he would be the first to leave today.

_'The computer at the public library said that the crimes in this city aren't very high, but that doesn't mean I should lower my guard towards anyone.'_ He thought to himself briefly before hearing a couple of men chuckling as they made themselves present in front of him. _'Just my luck, and I don't have anything to defend myself with but an empty school bag. Who would have thought that this would happen already?'_

"Hey kiddo, what you doing?" One asked, and waited for a response. "Hey, I'm trying to be _friendly_."  
><em>'Hardly…'<em> Toushirou placed the bag down and went into a fighting stance. _'I may not know much, but…'_  
>They all began laughing at first, until they looked behind him with distaste. "Tch, figures he show up."<br>_'He—?'_ Before he could even ponder upon what they had meant, he saw a large snarling canine there.  
>The one that had first spoken, snorted angrily. "You got lucky today kid, we'll see you later for sure!"<p>

With one loud snarling bark, the others ran away from the scene—much to Toushirou's relief, but now he was terrified of this beast. It was at least 152.5 centimeters at the shoulders, and quite possibly 198 centimeters at the top of its head… either way, this creature was _huge_. His heart was pounding in his throat as the creature looked at him with solid brown hues before watching it do the unimaginable. The creature lowered its head, picked up the school bag for the student, and waited for him to take the bag from him so he could be on their way. A minute or two may have passed by before Toushirou was able to take the bag cautiously from the creature as he slowly realized that the beast would not hurt him.

_"You saved me."_ He motioned with his hand in Japanese Sign Language. _"Thank you." _To his surprise, the beast gave a short nod, as if it understood him. _"Do you understand—"_ Toushirou shook his head at the stupid thought of an animal knowing what he was saying, but again, the creature nodded. _"You… do…?"_

"Hey! What's going on here!" A redhead suddenly appeared from behind the new student, wrapping an arm around his neck. "So, who's the new kid, I saw you chase off that pack of mutts a moment ago—" The beasts growled lowly, baring fangs at the male. Instantly he removed himself. "Whoa, sorry man."  
>Toushirou looked at him with slight fear as he wanted to run away from this guy who suddenly touched him, but. <em>'Why do I have a feeling that this creature would protect me from him?' <em>It was weird to think in that manner; maybe he should hurry up and go to school to avoid anything else before classes started.  
>"Sorry about scaring you, I'm Abarai Renji—oh, and sorry if this lug of a wolf scared you." The redhead wrapped an arm around the creature's neck. "He has a soft spot for those that are <em>different<em>, ya know?" The wolf growled at him in annoyance before pinning him onto the ground. "H-Hey, get off me, Idiot!"

"You two! Stop playing around, we have to go to school early today!" A young female called up ahead.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming Rukia!" Renji let the wolf go. "Hurry up, or we'll be late meeting the others!"

Toushirou watched as the redhead and wolf began to run off, but the strangest thing happened that had managed to astound him. The large wolf turned towards him, looking at him before flicking its ear in the other's direction, and then looking at the group that was harassing him a moment a go. He watched how it bared its fangs at the group before starting to charge towards them in order to chase them off so there would be a little more distant. They backed off a little more due to knowing the rules of territory, allowing the massive beast to turn towards the redhead, barking at him twice. Renji and Rukia looked at one another unhappily before they looked over to the white-haired male that they had just met.

"Hey newbie!" Renji called out to him. "You can come with us so those guys don't bother you."  
>Toushirou took a step back as a sign that he would decline; he did not want to get any closer to them.<br>The wolf came over, gently nudging him towards the two. "It's alright, we don't bite." Rukia announced.  
>He turned to see the wolf, watching it nod. <em>'It's really smart…'<em> It nudged him once more. _"Okay, okay."_

With this, the wolf turned away to leave after making sure the new student would be protected, and Toushirou somehow understood this. He followed two yards behind the two in silence without much choice as they walked through the park in order to get to school a little faster. The group of five males from earlier was starting to close in on them again, and it was starting to get a little bit old by now. As the redhead turn to chase after them, there was a loud screech at the street about three yards away.

Toushirou looked to see a bright carrot top male getting out of this brand-new Gray Metallic 2011 Sports Dodge Ram 1500, standing in slight baggy faded light blue jeans and a hooded camouflage sweater. "Get out of my territory," he told the five who instantly turned and left the park. "I'll deal with those idiots later." His attention went to the short male. "You must be Hitsugaya Toushirou, right?" Said male looked nervous, and the carrot top smirked casually. "Go ahead and hop in, we're on our way to school. It's only a block away, but we're a tad late unfortunately."

Renji punched the male in the shoulder. "Since when have you known this guy, huh? Could've gave us a little warning beforehand!" Angrily, he placed his hands on his hips. "Whatever, I call the very back!"  
>"Actually, I just learned about him from a girl that I picked up as I was leaving the clinic… Hinamori… Momo, I think her name was?" He pointed over his shoulder. "The girl forgot how to get to school."<br>Rukia hit him over the head, "you don't pick up strays you idiot!" Although, she had no one to back her up since Renji hopped up in the back of the truck, so she followed. "You're lucky the camper isn't up!"

The mute student looked slightly concerned. "I heard you two are new here, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Toushirou looked up at the carrot top who spoke to him. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but we need to get to school. Your…" Ichigo forgot what they were. "Your friend is in the truck waiting, would you like to sit in the backseat with her?" This earned him a slow nod. "Okay then, let's get this show on the road." As they headed to the truck, they heard a whiny bark.

They looked to see a small raven-colored wolf that was about Toushirou's height, "hey, what are you doing here—" the wolf had something in its mouth. "Ah… I forgot my wallet, didn't I? Thanks." It tackled him to the ground, licking him to death. "H-Hey, cut it out Runt! We have to get to school, go get Dad!" With a chipper bark, it turned to run off, and Ichigo got up. "No more stops! We're running late!" He ran up to the truck and opened the back door on the drive side, revealing the stepsister that waved happily.

"It's okay Shirou-chan, Kurosaki-senpai is really nice!" Momo cheered, coaxing Toushirou to climb in, but slipped halfway up. Luckily, Ichigo caught him by the belt of his pants, and hoisted him in. "Buckle up!"

Ichigo hopped into the driver's seat, started the truck up, and drove off to school and into the parking lot, aware that the two were silently speaking with their hands. Most likely, the boy was scolding the girl for jumping into a truck with someone she did not know as she tried to defend her savior, go figure. They arrived to school where there was a medium sized group in the parking lot as Ichigo parked the truck in the students section, and the two in the very back had hopped down with ease. Toushirou had a bad feeling about the group, but Momo cheerfully unbuckled herself to join Kurosaki Ichigo as if they were best friends now.

As soon as the males in the group gave her a wolfish whistle, he quickly got out of the truck to be at her side in case they tried to do something inappropriate with her. All it took was a simple introduction by Ichigo, and the others instantly backed off… as if there were hidden messages in his words. Although, they did not seem to be bad—in fact, it was only Renji and someone else that whistled at her like that.

"Kurosaki-senpai," Momo tugged his sleeve, earning _everyone's_ attention. "Can you show us where the office is? That way we can deal with our enrollment to this school." Everyone became silent at this.

Ichigo mentally growled. "I suppose I can help you with that." He looked to the others. "Everyone."  
>"Have fun with the bitch and runt." Renji laughed, and few chuckled. "See you when you're done!"<br>"Renji," the carrot top looked at him. "You will be cleaning the classroom, alone, today. Understood?"  
>He growled in annoyance. "What's the big deal, damn brats are already getting in our way of things."<br>"Who are you to decide that?" Everyone became silent. "I will see you all at lunch if not earlier."

That said, he looked to the two and told them to follow him while he led the way to the office as the three were eventually followed by others. Rukia and a dark hair-colored carrot top scurried over to be at Ichigo's sides as if they were his girlfriends or something, but two at once was not likely. They arrived to the office where they encountered an orange-haired woman with large breasts, who immediately came over to seduce Ichigo somehow. Toushirou wanted to gag at the scene of an adult whoring over anyone that was considered to be under aged; it was too disgusting.

"Hey, Rangiku-san, do me a favor. This here is Hinamori Momo and Hitsugaya Toushirou, I believe that they are here to enroll for our school." Ichigo stated without emotion. "Be a good bitch and see to it that they are not stuck with troublesome mutts, I had a run in with some stray pack of idiots earlier." After she heard this, she pulled away slowly. "If I catch them again without permission, I will kill them all."

"Why do you have to be so mean! I—" She paused as she absorbed all of his words. "Wait, did you say Hitsugaya?" Her answer was a curt nod. "Oh—he really is a cutie!" She turned to Toushirou. "Aren't you lucky! I'm your counselor! If there's anything that you ever need, let me know! You'll be just fine with—"

"By the way you're talking to him like that makes him sound like a victim." Ichigo interrupted sharply, obviously annoyed. "Whether that's the case or not, you're crippling him by being so considerate."  
>"You're one to talk," she huffed as her attention went to the male carrot top. "Why are you so angry, I haven't even told you about what happened this morning! You're wolves were in another fight already!"<br>"If I was here to break up the fight, then I would have done more damage." Ichigo stated as a male student placed something on the counter for him. "Besides, something's been lurking around recently."  
>"Kurosaki… can you just sign the paper and be on your way?" The student shifted his glasses. "Honestly, the pack wouldn't get into so many fights if you weren't so casual with them, and you already know it."<br>"What are you complaining about at six in the morning, Ishida? Should I be aggressive and spill blood for a little scuffle?" He growled in annoyance. "I'll let the pack run Saturday night, is that good enough?"

"…just sign the papers to acknowledge that the wolves got into a fight." Ishida Uryuu sighed with stress.

"The pack can really go on a run this Saturday?" The female carrot top student looked at Ichigo. "Can I tell them? Please?" Obviously, the thought of it had caught her interest. "Can I please tell the others?"  
>"No… if they found out so early, they would get too excited and get into more fights than I would bother to deal with." Ichigo looked around. "Damn, it's getting late." He signed the paper. "See everyone later."<br>"H-Hey, you're just going to leave these two?" Rukia asked in confusion as he headed towards the door. He paused to look at her before glancing at the two new students. "And here I thought you liked—"  
>"Outsiders are outsiders," Ichigo opened the door. "I was asked to escort them, and I have fulfilled the request. Now I have pressing matters to attend to. I have a mess to clean up, as I <em>always<em> do, Rukia."

With that, he walked off, and the two females that walked in with him had walked out with him, too.

Uryuu sighed once more as he placed the folder away. "Wonder who angered him so early today?"

"Who knows, he has too much to deal with recently with his father," Matsumoto Rangiku became upset at the thought. "After all, it's this month that has the anniversary of his mother's death. It's only natural that he would put a façade in front of his friends, and nothing for outsiders." There was a long silence before she looked to the two that wanted to become students at the high school. "O-Oh, sorry, I'll help you in my office. The others are running a little late, and I know the school nurse can't help you—"

"Matsumoto-sensei," Uryuu spoke quietly. "I know Kurosaki will be angry if I suggest this," he started to walk away. "If Hitsugaya-kun's academic levels are on par with Kurosaki's… put them the same classes, if not many, putting him in the last periods should be good enough." He paused at the hallway. "At least this way he could have _some_ protection. You already know that he'll be teased for his appearance."

Toushirou did not like how this sounded.

Rangiku smiled though. "Trust me, I'm way ahead of you." She revealed a small note card. "I checked earlier when I heard of our newest student, and he's at the same level as Ichigo. And even better, the teachers are granting him permission to let him be in his classes, which means being in yours too."  
>"I only have a few with him. Luckily, our school is more like those of America, rather than the normal Japan cultured one." His attention went to Toushirou. "Can you play any type of musical piece?" He received a nod. "Then I guess he's set to be in all of Kurosaki's classes. But what about the clubs?"<br>"Oh, I'm sure Hitsugaya-kun can learn some martial arts under Al—Ichigo." She waved a hand. "Also, he could participate in the other clubs that he's in." Her attention went to Toushirou. "Monday and Friday is Karate Club, Tuesday and Thursday is Soccer Club, Wednesday is Music Club. But then, there's…"

"Then his Saturdays are really scattered with all the sports that he has to participate in. Mostly soccer and swimming, well, usually at least." Uryuu waved it off. "Either way, I'm not going to be responsible."

Rangiku rolled her eyes at him before turning towards the two, motioning them to her private office so that she could work on enrolling them into the school. It was her job to make sure that the students were comfortable in school with the littlest amount of problems, so she had to be serious now. Typing away on her computer, she explained that the students at their school are severely bullied on some occasions without _proper protection_ as she placed it. Momo knew she meant about Toushirou's silver-white colored hair and his abnormal turquoise hues… they were used to this already.

"Shirou-chan, maybe you _should_ enroll in the next level and take Kurosaki-senpai's classes. He was really nice to us this morning!" She looked to the counselor. "Kurosaki-senpai's a really nice guy, right Sensei?"

"Sometimes…" The counselor mumbled to herself before smiling cheerfully. "Yes! Of course! So long as you don't cause him grief." She smiled lightly. "Ichigo's like a stray dog, he'll strike at you with the slightest reason. However, if you're a little patient with him, you'll have a best friend for life." Her attention went to the boy, using sign language. _"He knows how it feels to be bullied by being different."_

Knowing this now, Toushirou felt a little relieved. _"But I do not want anyone to know that I am mute."_  
>"I understand," She could not tell him that Ichigo knew sign language. "Will you take his classes?"<br>The boy thought on it for a little bit before slowly nodded. _"Only until I am settled in school." _  
>"Good, let's get things started!" Her typing was with speed, and made Toushirou's schedule first.<br>Momo glanced at it, giggling. "Kurosaki-senpai has Home Economics? The boy's or the girl's one?"

"Both. Ichigo thrives on being the best student, and he's the top student in all of his classes." Rangiku was trying her best to finish off everything that she could. "He may be cold and uncaring, but…" the two looked at her, watching the emotions flow through her face and eyes. "Ichigo is very understanding… and very forgiving…" her voice died down as if she were thinking of something, but shook it off. "Oh! Hitsugaya-kun, you should go greet Ichigo upfront!" She wrote on a little note card to give to him. "Do these when you see him and he'll hopefully be a little more accepting! He's over at the gym! Don't worry about your materials and stuff, just come back after you see him and head over to class!"

Toushirou nodded dumbly due to trying to process everything.

Grateful that he had his schedule and map, he managed to find the gym where there were many weight lifting objects with, and the music was low. He heard soft grunts in a direction where he then found the student that he was looking for until having to look away as quickly as he possible could. Kurosaki Ichigo was shirtless as he was on the bench press, even so, he luckily wore his shorts and shoe wear since he was half-naked. His attention went to the card again, reading the few steps that he had to do in order to be on his good side, but he was nervous to enter the room. Contemplating how to begin the greeting, he never noticed that someone wanted to go inside the gym until they threw him inside.

"Get out of my way, Freak!"

Toushirou cringed after falling to the floor, dropping his papers and the small note card across the ground as well. The muscular male that shoved him in, began to kick him while telling him to get out of his way while calling him names once more. He was used to the insults after hearing them all his life, but he did not expect the carrot top to come to his aide since he could not greet him. There was a clanking noise at the bench press that caused the two to glance in the direction—the male instantly earned a punch in the face. Ichigo grabbed him by the collar to bring him up close to his face in order to have a nice little chat with him to change his attitude.

"I don't like that attitude of yours, Grimmjow." He threw him out of the gym. "Come back with a better tune!" The other already got up and ran off. Ichigo looked at Toushirou, "and you! Defend yourself! You're going to let that punk push you around? Is that it?" His form kneeled to pick up the papers and note card until he saw what it said. "…Rangiku-san…" He growled in annoyance before turning towards the fallen male student, only to see his hands and knees, begging. _'What does this kid want from me?'_ His brown hues looked at the schedule that was identical to his own. "She wants me to babysit you?"

Toushirou weakly nodded.

As if he did not have enough on his plate, however, he understood where Rangiku was coming from for this time around. After all, the guy _did_ just get picked on by another for being different and weak, and at the bottom of the schedule was a statement that it was only temporary. If this was true, then he would not mind it too much to watch over the boy for a couple of weeks until Toushirou was not interesting. It was obvious that new students were the hot subjects in school, and Toushirou was already a walking target because he looked different from others.

Ichigo gave a sigh of defeat. "Have you got your books yet?" The other shook his head. _'Best not to let him know that I know he's most likely a mute.'_ He helped him up. "What, you're too good enough to talk to me?" Seeing the slight caution in those turquoise hues made him interested. "Whatever, you can go to Rangiku-san for your belongings, or wait for me in the lockers. It's your call." He grabbed his shirt and towel before walking towards the boys' locker room. _'Three… two… one…'_ Toushirou quickly followed.

Grimmjow was obviously keeping an eye on them.

When they entered the lockers, Ichigo stripped to take a quick shower whereas Toushirou made sure not to watch him. No one knew that he thought of himself as a homosexual—he was not sure, but based his belief upon what bullies tell him. Soon, Renji entered the locker and headed towards the showers, watching Ichigo bathe as he talked to him about a problem between the pack of wolves. Ichigo told him that they would go on a run Saturday after school and his swimming competition that instantly fired up the redhead before running off with the secret in mind. Minutes later, the carrot top dried himself off, got dressed for the day, and head towards the office with Toushirou not far behind.

They gathered his things and went to first period with the final bell ringing. "Nice of you to join us," the teacher scowled as Ichigo walked in. Then saw the student behind him. "And who are you little guy?"

Toushirou heard the classmates began whispering and laughing at him already— "This is Hitsugaya Toushirou. He is new to this school, as is his relative, Hinamori Momo." Ichigo stated sternly. "All of you, show your manners towards the both of them." He then glanced at the distance, "Ishida, move it." Uryuu snorted before collecting his things and sitting at another desk. "You, take the seat that he left." With that, Ichigo went to sit next to said seat. _'Having him sit next to the window should make things easier for him anyway.'_ Now that it was settled with, he slept for a little while; not caring about English.

After English, Physics, Social Studies, Math, lunch, Art, and Physical Education… they had their class meeting where they mentioned some sort of upcoming festival. The students all cleaned up the room without complaint as Ichigo and some big strong guy managed to help with the heavier things. It was then that Toushirou realized that the classmates had not picked on him; as _soon_ as Ichigo introduced him, the class stopped their gossip dead on the spot. As Ichigo waved the class off, he grabbed his bag to deal with his after school activities, and shortly noticed Toushirou following him.

"Hey, unless you plan on attending Karate Club, you have to go home, okay Runt?" With that, he continued to walk to the locker room while hearing Toushirou walking behind him still. _'Well, as least he'll be able to learn how to build some confidence for himself then.'_ However, it meant that he had to teach him personally since it would cause trouble for others. "You can sit and watch today, got it?"

Toushirou nodded once with an unfazed expression; he had it on, all day.

It did not take long since it was only an hour and a half, and the white-haired student liked what he saw the class do during training. What was better, there were some beginners too, and so it was most likely going to be something that he could join. Ichigo left to go get changed as the others did, so Toushirou decided to search for Momo in order to go home… but he could not find her anywhere. When he went back to the locker room to check on the carrot top, he was not there either, so he decided that he was going to be walking home alone whether he liked it or not.

Crossing the street was easy since school traffic would have died by now after searching for Momo for twenty minutes. Then crossed the park that made him a little wary since no one was visible to his eyes, but then he saw someone in a white tank top and blue shorts. Who would have guessed that the crazy carrot top that was in all of his classes would be jogging around the park after school! This guy worked out in the gym, ran three miles during Physical Education, and exercised his body during club time!

"Hey—Runt," Ichigo saw him and jogged over before having to jog in place. "That girl was at my truck waiting for me, she wanted the two of you to get a ride home, but couldn't find you." He watched Toushirou look to the ground in disappointment. "Anyway, go head home and do your homework—"

The two heard vicious snarling, causing Ichigo to slow his jogging in place to a complete stop as five massive sized wolves began coming towards them. Toushirou could tell instinctively that these were not going to be as friendly as the one he had met during the morning earlier today. Ichigo stood in front of him, growling in turn to their threatening actions; to think that others learned after being warned once.

"Kid," Ichigo cracked his knuckles. "Go home, I got your back." The other stood frozen. "Hey!" Ichigo looked at him to snap him out of his daze. "I said go home! I can handle them! So hurry and run away!" Toushirou did as told by running for his dear life, allowing Ichigo to look at the wolves. "This is going to be fun." He ran towards them and began fighting all five of them at the same time. "I need a good fight!"

The new student feared turning to look over his shoulder, but if he had… he would not have witnessed the six large wolves in front of him that went charging towards the scene. All but one, at least. It looked similar to the one that had helped him earlier, except this one had deep bluish steel grey hues instead of brown. This beast lightly nudged him away from the park as wolves began to fight; these were Ichigo's wolves that came to his aide, he realized. Therefore, he allowed this wolf to escort him from the park, and was brought to his apartment with what family that he had left. As soon as his hand touched the doorknob to the entrance, he looked to take one last glance at the wolf, but it was no longer there.

_'How does Kurosaki control such massive creatures?'_ He mentally thought to himself before going inside.

* * *

><p>It was late… perhaps after ten at night where most would already be in bed by now, but someone was crazy enough to be ringing their doorbell and knocking on the door. Toushirou was eating a super late dinner due to being conflicted by having to abandon his classmate with five menacing wolves, so Momo answered it. After a split second, she came rushing into the kitchen where Toushirou was eating at the counter due to little furniture, and was dragged towards the entrance. Ichigo stood there, covered in blood with his hand faced down in a fist, motioning towards Toushirou who nervously came over to open his hands. A silver-chained necklace was placed in his hands, and his turquoise hues saw the silver dagger pendant that was attached.<p>

"_Never_, remove that from your neck, got it?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

**Boy who Couldn't cry Wolf**

**Now—**

His alarm continued to ring endlessly until he got up to turn it off, but he had to wake up at five in the morning in order to keep up with his classmate. He felt obligated to do whatever Kurosaki Ichigo wanted after agreeing to runaway when it was obvious that the wolves wanted to kill him. The very thought of how scratched up and bloody he was when he was at the apartment had scarred him ever since because he blamed himself. There was no reason for him to blame himself when he was doing as told, but he felt that he should have done something instead of protecting himself.

Pushing negative thoughts for later, he grabbed his school clothes before heading to the bathroom for a morning shower so he could go to school. He thought about it though for a moment; why was he going to take a shower if he was going to take another one at school in an hour or two. Today he wanted to lift some weights with Ichigo to build up his body muscles for the next round of trouble that ever occurred. It was only Wednesday, but he began to learn a few things—intentional or not, about the classmate with orange hair and chocolate brown hues.

He was very strong and athletic, his body showed little flaws to his muscular features against his well-toned body as a sign that he worked out often. Despite his aloof attitude towards his classes, he was always listening intently whether he was actually asleep or just plain bored. His loyalties to his friends were something that Toushirou had to admire from a distance, though, as he saw the strong bonds.

Although that was not enough to know the carrot top, he knew he liked chocolate.

It took a moment to debate on what he should do before having to decide taking a shower now in case the other student would not let him join. He stripped his clothes away slowly as the water ran in the bathtub to get warm enough for him to use the shower-head. His attention turned to the mirror that was on the door inside the bathroom for him to see his entire body with displease; he did not like what he saw. A fifteen years-old boy that goes to high school whom could easily be mistaken for a elementary student most of the time, along with being mistaken for a punk, a gang member, and sometimes… a girl. Painful memories captured his attention as he remembered what happened in the past, causing him to try thinking of something that he liked. There was one thing that he liked about his body though, even though it was not his body that earned the compliment itself.

Toushirou stared at the body mirror, bringing a gentle hand to the pendant that was connected to the chain around his neck. It was probably the first gift that he had ever received from someone that was not a family member that he could remember. Perhaps it was small and held little meaning to some, but it meant a lot to him to see that he was being accepted by someone. His attention went to the bath that was starting to steam, causing him to turn it off quickly so he could use the shower-head to rinse himself off before washing it. There was something that he had to deal with this coming Sunday; that something was his unruly hair that allowed people to mistake him as the opposite gender. If there were something that he could do about it, he would not have to go to some barber shop to get it cut, but oh well.

_'I would ask Kurosaki's opinion, but… it's not possible.'_ He thought to himself in disappointment.

* * *

><p>As expected, Ichigo would not let him participate in his workout session that starts at six in the morning; two and a half <em>hours<em> before school. Although he thought it was because he was weak and unfit to use the machines and weights, it was merely because Ichigo needed to educate him on what he could and could not use. By next week or so, he would most likely let Toushirou use the gym to his heart's content as long as he did not give him any grief. Before any gratitude could be expressed, Ichigo returned to his work out session for another fifteen minutes until he was disturbed.

A teacher walked into the gym room, smiling casually as his appearance had made Ichigo sit up on the bench press that he was on. "What is wrong, Kurosaki Ichigo?" This earned him an untamed scowl.

"What's an insignificant insect like you doing in my presence?" Ichigo stood up in a dangerous manner.  
>"I merely wanted see your pet. Whether it was a male or female. If you have told it your secrets or not."<br>"Every creature holds a secret if not more, Aizen-_Sensei_." He watched him closely. "Now leave or else."

Aizen Sousuke looked at him before his attention went to Toushirou. "Being a teacher has its perks. You learn a lot about a student just by reading their files, most in which, have a lot of history buried deep within the pages." His hand extended towards Toushirou, nearing the pendant. "Right, Hitsugaya-kun—"

For a split second, the world was too fast for his turquoise hues to keep up with what was happening as the fear ensnared him. Ichigo pinned the teacher against the wall as he growled lowly… it was almost inhumanly, if that were possible. The teacher gritted in pain at the pressure on his back as his arms felt like they were going to be ripped out of their sockets. Toushirou worried that the classmate was really going to kill this man; he may not know the history between them… but… still…

"Kurosaki-san!" A man entered the gym when hearing the commotion nearby. Seeing what was in front of him, he tried to do what he could. "I'll take it from here, you can let him go now!" Ichigo would not let go of the man as the victim began to yell bloody murder. "Kurosaki-san, think about your subordinates!"

Two small arms wrapped around his sweaty figure—it was foreign and made him want to retaliate, but realized that it was Toushirou. He thought on it some as he began to understand a little more than he needed before releasing the teacher for the sunny-blond teacher to take him away. Since Monday, when finding out that Toushirou was mute, he partly assumed that he was mute since birth, but it was deeper than he liked to think of. Violence seemed to scare the new kid who knew to keep his head down when trouble brewed in his direction, and to play dead when being beaten up.

"If you don't fight for yourself, you fight for others." Ichigo stated calmly. He felt the hold around him loosen. "If you won't fight for yourself, fight for your sister." Once Toushirou let him go completely, he grabbed his shirt and towel. "If you can't fight for her… then fight for me, because I will fight for you."

Toushirou stared at him in amazement for saying this to him; he could feel the over powering energy that got him somewhat pumped to do so. However, he could not get cocky since he knew that he would most likely run away as soon as the opportunity knocked on his door. He quietly followed him to the lockers where Ichigo took his shower as Renji came in to speak with him about what happened with the teacher briefly before leaving. Those two were close it seems; during lunch, he would see the two fooling around and playing roughly during lunchtime.

"Hey," Ichigo called out as he wrapped the towel around his waist when coming over to his locker; it was obvious that nudity irked the newbie. "You don't have to say anything, but at least show some way of answering me." This earned him a faint nod while putting his boxers on. "Aizen is scum and is mostly likely trying to use you to try getting me riled. If you don't want me to kill him, there are things that I should know beforehand." In the corner of his eye, he saw fear in him. "Your business is your own, if you don't answer, that's up to you. Got it?" Again, he earned a nod; this time, it was shaky. "Did something bad happen to you before you came to this school?" Toushirou slowly nodded once.

Now he had a bad feeling about this.

"So, you won't talk to others because you're worried that we'll laugh and ridicule you?" He knew that this was not the case, but he was not going to lead on that he knew he was mute. Toushirou took the bait without knowing it, nodding in hopes that he could fool the carrot top. "My last question is more personal than my other two, so don't take offense whatever the outcome of it is." Turquoise hues were trying to tear away as he knew what question was coming next. However, he did not expect the question to be on a small piece of paper that asked. _"Were you a victim of sexual assault?"_

This time, it was more painful than he thought it could be, and attempted to run.

"I'm not judging you." Ichigo stated as the other turned to flee. Hearing this made him wait to hear for an explanation. "As Aizen said, there's paperwork on all students, but the chances that he got hold of confidential information is slim, though possible." He put his pants on and brought out a lighter. Toushirou turned to see him burn the paper that held the question on it. "I asked because, if Aizen were to say it to my face after I become adapt to your presence, I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't kill him."

Although new to the sensation of being protected, it was slightly taken in that, Kurosaki Ichigo really wanted to watch over him. To think that his school records would hold such damning information about him scared him to death, it was unsettling. Only his grandmother and doctors should know about his cases that involved medical treatment since Momo was too blind and oblivious. An open hand faced up was barely half a yard in front of his face, it confused him until it slowly turned over to come forward. It startled him to see the man getting closer with his hand, so he backed up to stay out of reach, and Ichigo simply chuckled at this.

"Your hair needs to be dealt with, you'll go blind in that eye if you keep it covered." Ichigo placed on the remaining clothing needed before pulling out him hair gel. "Would you like some help with that then?" A moment of thought, he wanted to accept, but was cautious of being harmed. "Ah…" He caught on and brought out a hunting knife from his locker, taking it out of its case and holding the blade while offering the handle to him. "Go ahead, take it." It took a moment, but Toushirou held it, and the blade was placed under Ichigo's neck as he sat down. "If I hurt you, go ahead and do what you want with the knife. Does that sounds like a good deal?" He earned another weak nod. "Then sit down and let me work on your hair." Toushirou slowly did as told, changing the blade's position to Ichigo's throat. "Good choice."

After five minutes of trying to tame the flimsy hair, Toushirou lowered the knife as he began to trust that the carrot top would not hurt him. In fact, he closed his eyes to accept the treatment that he was not accustomed to as he was being touched a lot more than what he was used to. It took another ten minutes before Ichigo was satisfied with his work, and allowed Toushirou to go check it out after giving the knife back. To the tall one's surprise, the small one was quickly on his feet and in front of a mirror to look at his hair that was now spike with a bang over his eye to make him seem more… wild. (A/N: If you do not understand; Toushirou's hairstyle just went from before to after becoming a Shinigami in series.)

"If you keep it like that for a while, it'll stay like that eventually." Ichigo announced while closing up his locker, only to see the other return to him. "What is it?" He received a nod. "You like the hairstyle?" This time, he nodded, paused, and shook his head. "You do, but you're not talking about that." Toushirou then pointed to the sink where Ichigo placed the burning piece of paper; he was confessing to being sexually assaulted. "Okay," Ichigo responded, earning a quizzical look. "Thank you for letting me know, and for trusting me with this information about you." He started to walk off. "Your sister should be—" Toushirou immediately grabbed onto to his arm with undoubtedly the most fear anyone could possess.

"What—" it hit him. "You think I'm going to tell her?" This earned him a more aggressive tug to the arm. "What may or may not have happened to you is none of my business, if she doesn't know about what happened, she would not be learning about it from me." The grip slacked at the speech. "Besides, you're not talking to me, so I could fool myself into believing that you were just plain assaulted since that's what Grimmjow did to you Monday morning." Ichigo realized that this did not help his case, and quietly mumbled to himself. "Even then, I wouldn't bother telling that to others, because it's none of their business either…" He pushed the subject aside. "What I saying was, I'll take you to your sister, okay?"

As he started to walk away, Toushirou's hold had vanished as he stared at the leaving carrot top in a new light. Was there such a human being that existed like that; was there actually someone in the world that would keep such a dark secret to himself, and to genuinely accept what happened? Maybe this was a trick to lower his guard so that he could spring this on him later on to get revenge if he was betrayed.

Toushirou did not know how he could manage that, but the threat of him caused him to grab onto him.

"What now?" The frustration in Ichigo's tone worried him that he was going to attack. "I said that I was not going to tell anyone. What more do you want from me?" Toushirou looked away as he tried to think of how to express this, and instead, crossed his heart. "I guess your trust would be little, I don't blame you." Ichigo sighed in agitation. "To be honest, I would have been assaulted sexually when I was little, but my mother protected me with her life. In which, protecting me, _cost_ her life." He looked to see the surprise in Toushirou's eyes, and he quickly began to walk off. "No one else knows about that, so we're even, understood?" The other hurried to his side, nodding eagerly. "Then let's go see your sister."

_'I never would have thought that… Kurosaki could have gone through something so horrid…'_

It was a lie, because he could see the lingering pain in his emotionless brown eyes.

* * *

><p>"You gotta be kidding…" Renji growled as he saw an annoying teacher for Physical Education coming out, and it was no other than Aizen Sousuke. "What's this mongrel doing around here!" Others laughed.<p>

"Your teacher is ill today, so I am here to replace him. We are going to play a game of dodge ball after your warm up lap. You will be playing against my class." Sousuke smiled devilishly. "I hope that won't be a problem, Kurosaki Ichigo-_sama_." Some of the classmates began to glare and growl at him for this.

"Of course, Aizen-_Sensei_." Ichigo looked to his class, they were all there. "Come on everyone, let's do the warm up." The classmates listened and began their lap. _'His target is this guy huh?'_ He whistled loudly.  
>Toushirou watched as ten classmates jumped to Ichigo's side. <em>'Does whistling aloud call others to him?'<em>  
>"Aizen's target is the new cub, do whatever necessary to avoid him getting touched by anyone, is that understood?" The others immediately agreed, so he slowed down to be at Toushirou's side.<br>_'Why is he doing this for me…'_ He looked at him, seeing nothing on his face. _'What is his reason?'_  
>"The ten in front of us, you can stand around them, we'll do the rest." The carrot stated quietly before adding. "Aizen has made you his prey it seems, because he wants a reaction out of me, understand?"<p>

Toushirou nodded, and they all finished their lap to do their stretches before going to the courts.

"Finally get to have my revenge, huh Kurosaki!" Grimmjow grinned widely. "I'll get that runt for sure!"  
>"Whatever you say," Ichigo mused, catching a handball that was thrown at his face. "Nice throw."<br>"I tried," Sousuke smirked as casually tossed the ball to Grimmjow before yelling. "Begin!"

Ichigo and Grimmjow threw the balls at each other's feet so they could not be caught; Grimmjow got out of the way, letting the person behind him to be hit. _'Damn!'_ Ichigo jumped five feet in the air to avoid the hit, leading Toushirou to be the target for the ball. "Renji!" He barked out quickly to the other.

"On it!" Said male grinned, jumping in front of Toushirou to catch the ball and throwing it at the enemy, knocking one out in the process. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Hell yeah!" He was pumped.

Toushirou watched as this game was somewhat of a battle between the classes, what was more, Ichigo was coordinating everything to make sure that he would not get hit. He hated this—he could not let them do everything for him, so he ran to the front-line to stand next to Ichigo as a sign to fight back. Ichigo was curious about his decision, but he understood what was going through his mind even though he knew the outcome. The carrot top raised a hand to the classmates that had been guarding him for the past ten minutes; they would see what he could do. Grimmjow got hold of a ball and threw it at the white-haired student's feet, but Toushirou saw it coming, so he bent down and caught it. His jaw fell at the sight of this, and of course, this did not settle with the hotheaded student who glared deadly at him.

"Don't be a sore loser, get over there, Grimmjow." Ichigo stood in front of Toushirou, knowing that he would attack. "You have a chance to redeem yourself anyway." That was all it took, he went crazy. "Get back! The game's over!" He roared, and everyone backed away from the courts to get away from the two that were about to get into a fight. "What are you going to do, Grimmjow? Getting carried away?"

"I would do it right now if we weren't in school." He growled.

They began to circle one another slowly before starting to charge at one another, exchanging fists even though it was only Ichigo's that were hitting. This was getting under the hothead's skin as he began to throw crazier punches than necessary, so Ichigo had to end this quickly. The split second there was an opening, the carrot top got him in a sleep hold, and knocked him unconscious for everyone's safety.

Ichigo snorted at the fallen male before getting into Sousuke's face. "We're finished here." With this, he began heading towards the locker rooms. "Our class is going to get dressed, we're finished for the day."

Everyone in his class turned and headed towards the lockers by following Ichigo. "Ichigo," Renji called out, and he stopped to look at him. "I want to talk to the runt in private. Will you mind if I do, though?"  
>"Go ahead," his attention went to Toushirou. "You will not verbally answer any questions that he asks."<br>_'Thank God,'_ Toushirou nodded once as he stayed behind with the redhead. _'Wait, but… why?'_  
>The others walked in the lockers, and Renji looked him in the eye. "I understand that Ichigo's watching over you because you're different, I get it. But he has others that he has others that he worries about."<br>_'Is he threatening me or something?'_ Without realizing it, he brought a hand up to the pendant.  
>This made the redhead back away a few feet, growling at the item. "You're lucky you have that."<p>

With this, Renji walked around him and told him to go inside, which made Toushirou start to notice how this was what the wolves would do. Speaking of which, girls began screaming as they ran out of the locker room while they heard a dog fight, literally. Half of them were dressed, some were getting dressed as they were running out. Toushirou heard Renji curse, saying that the 'bitches were at it again' in a low tone, but he watched a wolf run from the boys locker room to the girls side. Soon enough, everyone was out of the locker rooms to stay out of trouble during the fight, but he did not see Ichigo.

"Watch out!" Someone yelled from behind everyone.

Another wolf came charging onto the scene inside the locker room. "We have to—"  
>"No," Renji interrupted the giant. "We can't interfere with their fight, Chad."<br>"Besides, he has to know to not mess with the pack." Uryuu stated.

It turned quiet after a moment, and soon, a wolf appeared to look at the many students while having another wolf's neck in his jaws. The beast placed the unconscious male on the ground before giving a loud howl, and yet another wolf jumped to the scene to take the unconscious one away. Toushirou was starting to believe that he was hallucinating; this was the _same_ wolf that helped him Monday morning, right? He started to approach the beast until Renji grabbed him by the arm while telling him to stay back from the three, and the wolf snarled at the redhead to release the other.

Toushirou then ran to the wolf. _"What are you doing here?"_ He asked discreetly with his hands, knowing that the wolf understood him. _"Are you a student that goes to this school?"_ The wolf nodded once, and this scared Toushirou. _"There are such things as men who turn into wolves?"_ He did not know the word for werewolf, and he received a nod once more. _"If that's true, why have you not come talk to me!"_

The wolf's upper lip slightly lifted to bare his fangs before backing up and heading into the lockers.

Toushirou began to follow— "Runt," Renji called, and Toushirou—who had to accept the name, turned to look at him. "What are doing? Wolves are dangerous you know." Everyone watched him carefully.  
><em>'Even so, this one saved my life, but he might go after Kurosaki!'<em> He turned and entered the locker room.  
>Orihime frowned. "It must be hard for Kurosaki-kun to deal with him. He never talks to any of us."<br>"I think the question is, how did he strike a question with him without words?" Uryuu thought aloud.

Back with Toushirou, he searched through the entire place and could not find him anywhere until hearing a toilet flush. He ran over to wait in front of the stall, and saw him upon the door before blinking curiously at him and looked around the lockers as he asked where everyone went. This carrot top was going to give him a heart attack—he was in the bathroom the entire time, there was no way he would have known about what happened. Soon enough, the male students began entering the locker room to get changed, and the two joined them as Renji came over to Ichigo.

"Hey, did you see the wolf passing through?" The redhead had to save his butt.  
>"I was in the bathroom, I ate your cooking, remember?" Ichigo grinned slyly at him.<br>It made him glare unhappily. "Anyway, your buddy here is too comfortable with _that_ one."  
>"What, with Alpha?" He earned a nod. "Well, I don't see what the problem is then, do you?"<br>Renji shoved him against the lockers. "_Don't_ be stupid, other wolves will think he's weak."  
>"Why should I care?" He stood tall. "Are you trying to challenge me, <em>Renji<em>? Hmm?"  
>There was a long paused, and he backed down. "No… I have to go get dressed."<p>

Ichigo snorted to vent his disapproval before changing his clothes next to Toushirou, allowing the other to see the healing scars from fighting the five wolves. He placed on his clothes and saw that Toushirou was staring at what were most likely the battle scars that were healing slowly. His mind was made up; he needed to explain to him that he there was more to this school than meets the eye, so he sent a quick text to Renji on his cell phone. Toushirou glanced at the text to see him type _'Be busy w/ Runt'_ before it was sent in which meant that they were probably going to do something.

"Come on… let's go through the back and find your sister." Ichigo lead the way once they were both ready, and they found her, so he smiled cheerfully at her. "I'm taking your brother for a quick lunch off campus, would you like to come along?" Momo instantly clung to his arm, much to his distaste.

They arrived to a fast food restaurant where the two inhaled their food.

"Your brother learned a very big secret of Karakura Town is seems." Ichigo told Momo, not eating a meal. "You see, Karakura Town is more of a reservoir—a sanctuary to those that are different from normal humans." He almost smirked when the two stopped eating. "That's why this town is surrounded by so many acres of forest land, there are shape shifters here. But not everyone here is a shape shifter."

Momo dropped her fries. "What do they shape shift into?"  
>He saw her excitement. "Well, mostly just wolves."<br>"I want to see one! Can we? Please!"

Ichigo blinked at her in confusion to her excitement, "you're class has a handful, probably. It's only because there were two girls today fighting for dominance that your brother learned about them."  
><em>'Could it be…'<em> It took a moment, but Toushirou used sign language. _"Are you that wolf from today?"_  
>He knew what was asked of him, but played stupid. "What? Is there a fly bugging you?"<br>_'No… he can't be then.'_ Toushirou was now a little disappointed, and nodded.  
>Momo asked for him, "hey, you wouldn't happen to be a wolf too, would you?"<br>"I'm not allowed to answer that." He admitted partly. "The wolves keep quiet."  
>"Really? But I would really love to meet one sometime—I've never seen a wolf!"<br>_'Yeah right,'_ but maybe she was not looking when one gave him his wallet. "I'm only going to say this once. This sanctuary is for werewolves, as the modern age calls them, they are here to survive."

Toushirou looked a little understanding.

"They are not allowed to kill humans, or each other really, but their allowed to fight. They only want to be left alone to be like normal humans." Ichigo looked to Toushirou, pointing at the pendant. "Most will run from you if you show off that thing. It means that you're protected by the most powerful wolf." He saw him look at the pendant, about to touch it. "If you hold it in hand and think of that wolf, he'll come."

_'That's why Abarai was nervous… Abarai is a wolf…'_

"Anyway, let's go back. I have to prepare for Music Club."  
>Momo squealed. "You should hear Shirou-chan play the piano!"<br>"Oh?" Ichigo smirked as he saw the other look away shyly. "Interesting."

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki-sama! Please play the piece that you've prepared for us!" Some freshman girls begged him.<p>

Ichigo looked at the group of giddy girls before standing up, and walking over to the grand piano to do what was asked of him. He sat on the bench, took an easy breath with his eyes closed, and began to play a song that he had made all by himself. His eyes slowly opened as if he was reciting the song through memory, and Toushirou looked around the large room. The carrot top was so popular… many students were here _just_ to listen to him play the piano; many were even in tears.

"It's beautiful," a female student wiped her eyes.

Many female students cried, many male students kept their eyes closed, but some still cried at the heartbreaking song. It made everyone wonder what was going through Ichigo's head when he made the piece for his fellow club members. Soon, the song died down after seven minutes of playing, and Ichigo looked to his large audience—but caught sight of Toushirou. For he too, had tears descending from his watery turquoise hues, and he did not care that he was crying in public since many others were too.

_'It's painful…'_ Toushirou wiped his eyes, silently sniffling. _'I could hear the sorrow with each note played.'  
><em>"Hey," the carrot top called in front of him, earning a silent gasp. "What are _you_ crying about, Runt?"  
>He stared at him for the longest time, <em>'K-Kurosaki…'<em> The tears began to fall in greater numbers now.

Toushirou knew that this teen was fighting real pain.

* * *

><p>AN: I have a lot of stories to catch up on right now, so I don't know when the next update will be.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03**

**Boy who Couldn't cry Wolf**

**Now—**

He heard that Ichigo was in a swimming competition today once school was over, so he wanted to watch him despite having a feeling that he would win. It was the only reason why he decided to leave early to see what Momo would like to do for the day since she went home early. The white-haired student liked the school a lot faster than he thought he would, but he knew it was because of the carrot top that would watch over him. There had been no sign of wolves since the incident on Wednesday thankfully, even though Ichigo told him many things that he should do when encountering them.

"Hey Ulquiorra! It's the cub!" A senior student called out, laughing in his muscular tone. "Let's get him!"

Toushirou mentally cursed when seeing the giant idiot running after him so he began to run to the park to get away from him until he was forced to stop. Grimmjow and a few others blocked his path to run home while the other two blocked his way back to school… he was in trouble. Without even thinking, he was mentally praying for the wolf to come to his aide, but Ichigo's face continued to come to mind, too. Ulquiorra slapped him across the face, which caused him to fall to the ground while holding his face where he was hit, and Grimmjow slammed his foot down on his arm—breaking it.

Everyone watched as Toushirou inaudibly yelled bloody murder.

Causing Grimmjow to grin widely. "You can't even yell? You're a mute?" He burst out with laughter. "Oh I know _exactly _what I'm going to do to you. I'm going to rape you in front of these losers, just to get I—"

A wolf lunged into the group, sinking his fangs into his shoulder to get him to back away from the fallen student. Its coat was a wide variety of golden tan to reddish brown fur all around its body so its fierce brown hues would stand out. They all began to back away in surprise to see the wolf there to protect the weak student, but they wanted to fight him. Though it had been a few days he had seen wolves, Toushirou witnessed ten humans turn into wolves to attack the one that ruined their fun. He tried to get up to help, but his broken arm throbbed, and became terrified when Ulquiorra came over in his wolf form, grabbing him by the shirt and flinging him in the air. The wolf that had come to save him had seen this, and carefully caught him in his mouth; holding him gently as one would with a cub.

From there, it was an all out war as the one wolf fought against all ten, and frightening enough, won.

It was bleeding heavily as it looked at him once the others fled, but it limped over towards the white-haired male, sniffing at his face. Toushirou slowly looked up at the wolf, remembering that it was a male, though it did not matter to him what the gender was. His hand came up towards the giant creature to let him do whatever he wanted to him; bite him or otherwise. The wolf lowered his head to be petted for the moment before walking around him to motion him on his feet—if he could walk or not.

_"I—"_ He cringed in pain, forgetting that his left arm was broken. _'I can't communicate anymore…'_

The wolf brushed against him before lowering his body down while looking at him as a sign that he wanted Toushirou to get on his back. Said student wanted to refuse since the wolf was so badly wounded as it was, but it seemed like he had no other choice. Toushirou got on his back and went for a slow ride out of the park into a slightly different direction than the apartment he lived in. It was three minutes later that he found himself taken to a 'Kurosaki Clinic,' but behind it was a huge mansion.

After setting Toushirou down, he gave a deep howl for the household to hear, and two girls appeared.

"What are you—what happened!" The dark-haired one panicked. The wolf mentally told her what happened, along with the story that the student did not know his real identity. "We have to treat you too!" The wolf declined, saying that the boy needed to be tended to first before himself. "Fine, come on Yuzu, we have to get Dad! We have to heal the kid first before we fix up the wolf—come on, hurry up!"

The two ran off, and the wolf nudged Toushirou to enter.

As soon as he walked in and saw the two girls and a man running towards him, he fell unconscious.

* * *

><p>Toushirou cringed at the bright rays hitting him in the face that disturbed his slumber, how troublesome.<p>

"Senpai, Senpai! Shirou-chan's awake!" He heard Momo call excitedly. "You really had us worried!"  
>Too groggy to think, or remember, he motioned with a hand his right hand to reply. <em>"I am sorry."<em>  
>"So… it's not that you don't <em>want<em> to speak, it's because you lost your voice." Ichigo's voice was heard.

This sent him into a world of panic as he tried to sit up on the bed that he was on, but froze when he saw that the carrot top was covered in bandages. He looked him up and down even though his lower half was covered by pants, but his chest was completely covered in wraps. It reminded him of the wolf that was beaten up some—his hand slammed against his chest to check for the pendant quickly. Ichigo smirked at the panic he saw when he was worried about the necklace he had given him the first day.

"Try not to move much, you have a broken arm and a few cuts along your chest and back. You should be more careful walking home." Ichigo stated, earning a confused look. "What, you don't remember? I was walking home most of the way with you and you were so lost in thought that you tripped. You landed on your arm and broke it, you scraped yourself in the process, too. So I brought you here to have my dad have a look at you. I didn't know if you had any medical insurance or not, and you won't have to pay us."

Toushirou tried to think about it. _'…no, there were wolves…'_

Ichigo turned to Momo, "would you mind getting my father before you go home, please? I understand that you have to go home and tell your grandmother that he's staying the night here at our family clinic." She eagerly obeyed and went to find him, letting Ichigo sit on the chair that she had. "There's no need to worry her about what really happened, right?" He received a slow nod. "I got all banged up when I tried patching that wolf up. He's gone though, so don't bother being hopeful about seeing him anytime soon." Toushirou looked away in shame; this guy knew that he was actually mute, now he would probably keep his distance. "You know," Ichigo stated, and the other slightly looked in his direction—watching him use sign language and talking at the same time. "You could be nice enough to say 'thank you,' it only takes a left arm and right hand."

He blinked confusedly before moving his left arm, only to realize that it was in a cast, but shook off the surprise to motion a brief 'thank you' in sign language as he was told to. Wait a minute, if Ichigo knew how to speak Japanese Sign Language, then he _could_ be the wolf who saved him! Once it was implanted in his mind, a bandaged wolf appeared in the room, looking at Toushirou before coming to Ichigo.

"Jeez, I thought you already left, huh?" Ichigo offered a hand to be sniffed before petting it. _'Thank you, Inoue.' _Telling her this mentally, she tackled him on the chair and licked him merrily. "Okay! Okay! Go!"  
><em>'I guess Kurosaki isn't the wolf then…'<em> Toushirou was too tired still, or else he would have realized that she was smaller than the male and had grey hues. They looked almost identical though. _'Oh well…'_  
>Seeing the disappointment in his turquoise eyes was good enough for Ichigo; it looked like his identity was going to be safe a little longer. <em>'Although I can't watch over the run while I'm so injured, damn it.'<em>

Toushirou looked around to see that he was in a clinic looking room with an end table next to him with a notepad and pen. Thin brows knitted confusedly to the odd coincidence… it was almost as if Ichigo had already known that he was mentally mute. This made him scoot back all the way to sit up against the headboard of the bed he was on before grabbing the pen so that he could write—

"I've had my suspicions since we met." Ichigo stated before he would write anything down. "At first, I assumed that you were extremely shy when you were using Japanese Sign Language in the backseats of my truck, but I have a rearview mirror that I could see you two in." He saw the slight worry. "It didn't bother me. I chose to play dumb so you could adjust to school, but then Aizen found interest in you, and he only goes after those who have a closet of skeletons that are around me." Toushirou tried to listen intently to his words. "After you implied you had been assaulted inappropriately, I pulled some strings to make sure that you would be watched over." His attention went elsewhere, "sorry about that."

Toushirou finally wrote on the piece of paper. _It's not your fault. I left without waiting for you._  
>He read the note. "Well, how do you like that wolf coming to your rescue, huh?" He earned a nod.<br>_I did not think that group, were wolves._ He tapped the pen a moment, then continued. _It was scary.  
><em>"They are considered the _outsiders_ of the town since, they too, look different from others. You know?"  
>Although he understood their view, he did not enjoy being picked on. <em>Will they leave me alone now?<em>

"If they don't, I'll have no choice but to kill them this time." Ichigo stood in pain—but sat down quickly before standing up all the way. "Guess I moved too fast." He took a slow breath, cringing. "Some wolves should trim their claws." His bandages were instantly drenched in blood. "I'll be out of commission."

"Yes you will," a male voice called out while heading into the room. Ichigo looked at him with a tint of annoyance. "You're not going to school until you've healed, and that means a week!" His attention went to Toushirou, pointing accusingly at him. "And you! You need rabies shots, just in case."

This struck a nerve and kicked him in the head. "He doesn't need them you dumbass!"  
>"How can you say that! I was bit once and I need dozens of shots!" He complained loudly.<br>"If you keep spewing nonsense, I'll throw you out the window!" Ichigo roared, then cringed in pain.  
>"Ha-ha-ha! You can't even threaten me properly you idiot!" He brought out a needle. "I got you now—"<p>

"Shut up!" The dark-haired girl whacked the man over the head, bashing him into the wall. "Leave Ichi-nii alone Dad! He's injured!" She then hurried over to Ichigo. "Your wounds are opened up already!"  
>"Jeez Onii-chan, you're supposed to stay in bed!" A sunny blond-haired girl came over to the carrot top, sobbing against his arm. "You've lost a lot of blood already! You have to take better care of yourself!"<br>"Yuzu, Karin, these are minor injuries compared to last time when I was in a fight." He smiled weakly at her before slowly patting her head. "You know that I can tough anything out. These are nothing, okay?"

The two scowled and glared at him before falling on their knees and crying on his lap as he sat back down for them, sobbing and yelling at him for making them so worried all the time. Toushirou was in awe when seeing the classmate being so gentle with the two girls that were obviously his little sisters; they must really care about him. At the corner of his eye, he saw the man approach him with a needle in hand, so he quickly held onto the pendant in hopes of being saved. The man blinked at him confusedly; he did not react to it as Renji did, so the chances of this man being a wolf were slim.

"Ichigo, he's not going to let me treat him now that he's awake. He _does_ need a shot to fight _bacteria_." Isshin looked at his son disapprovingly. "It's only to be on the safe side that he takes the rabies shots."

"Ah, I'll give it to him, it's my responsibility." Ichigo slowly got up, taking the syringe needle. "You guys got to get out, you know the drill." The group left and Karin closed the door behind them. "Alright, this doesn't hurt too much." Toushirou tried to back away from him. "W—oh, you prefer it _that_ way… right." He looked around and found a clean knife that was to cut someone open, grabbed it, and thrust it into his own leg. "There, put your hand on it." He helped him do so. "If it hurts too much, do whatever you want. Okay?" Since Toushirou was still in disbelief that Ichigo stabbed his own leg, Ichigo took this as an opportunity and gave him the shot that slightly stung. "That wasn't so bad, right—nh." The patient ripped the knife out of his leg and threw it to the ground. "Not happy about my method of trust, huh?"

_'You're the only one who thinks it logical.'_ Toushirou thought in a glum manner, now staring at the new injury that his classmate had. _'Does it mean he has a lot of trust in me, or is it to have me trust him?'_

"When you're around wolves… family, loyalty, and trust are important. Human or not, one can be a part of a wolf pack, because a pack, means family." He saw those big turquoise hues watch him, listening intently. "But you have to be careful about lycanthropes, whether they admit it or not, they are delicate creatures." Toushirou started at him; fully focused now more than ever, and Ichigo could not blame him.

_'But wolves are nothing but beasts… monsters even.'_

"Human worries about only human things, and the same with a wolf worrying about only wolf things. But a lycanthrope, a werewolf, they have to worry about both human things, and wolf things. They have to deal with two separate instincts merging into their brain, even for the little things. A male might think that he needs to go pee and heads to a tree instead of going to a restroom two feet away." Ichigo saw how Toushirou cracked a smile at the example. "You think that's funny, but it can be frustrating for them since they have to learn what's what in their mind. It's really hard for them, sexually sometimes too. A friend of mine who is a lycanthrope likes another male, but the wolf side of him says female, and the human side wants a male. He doesn't know which instincts are dominant." He looked over at the other.

Toushirou frowned at the good point, and wondered how painful it was for werewolves to have two different species into one. For him it was easy since he knew that he had interest for males only, but what if he were part wolf; would there be a part of him that wants a female? When his mind replayed the words that Ichigo said, he began to think about who he could have talked about, and knew.

He reached for the pen and to write again. _Your friend, is it Abarai?_ Toushirou watched Ichigo take in a deep frustrated breath—he was angry, so the small one quickly scribbled. _He reacted to the pendant when he tried to talk to me! After what you told me, I figured out that he was a wolf._ Ichigo looked away.

"So, it's my fault…" he sighed heavily, scratching the back of his head. "But… yeah, that's who I'm talking about." Ichigo tossed the needle away while still sitting on the edge of the bed. "I should have known…"  
>The small one felt a little guilty now for hearing this tone in his voice. <em>He likes you, doesn't he?<em> Ichigo stared at the piece of paper without any emotion. _You're close to him, and he's very protective of you._  
>"I am a pack member to him, we protect one another, we defend one another." He tried to think of his words carefully. "Kind of like you with the wolf. If you can manage to spend time with him, who knows?"<br>_'But I don't know what he looks like in human form.'_ A thought occurred to him, so he ripped the top page to write on the next page. _Do you know the identity of that wolf? I know he goes to our school._  
>"It's not my place to answer." Ichigo watched the expression fall on the other's face. He patted his head. "Runt," Toushirou looked at him. "You're the first human to get to him, other than family of course…"<p>

Hearing him say this gave him some hope that he was special, but hearing it from Ichigo, it sounded like he was talking about himself. His face was only about half a yard away with the hand slowly descending from his head to his cheek due to exhaustion most likely. Unfortunately, Toushirou took the wrong choice of action by leaning forth and brushing his lips against his classmate's. He pulled away shyly to see if the action was disapproved or not as Ichigo's hand stayed in place on his pale check, so he came back for another. This was his first kiss with someone, and Ichigo had been very helpful ever since he was forced to put up with him at school.

Toushirou really fancied him.

Just as Ichigo began to return the kiss, his mind sent alarms to his body, and pulled away quickly before things got out of hands. He looked to the ground as he mentally tried to find a reason as to what had just happened between then—why a male kissed him. It was bad enough that Renji had this problem, but he was not going to be in the same boat at him; he would not let himself get confused. What if the pack found out about this little incident… what if other wolves found out about this, he would die right on the spot! Spending all his life to prove that he was not some weak fool, training himself endlessly to make sure that he was good enough to lead, and he screws up by sharing a kiss with a male?

"Don't do that again…" He spoke quietly; still slightly confused. "You're still drugged, and I'm not that type of person. I have a fiancée that would eat me alive if she found out about this little mishap."  
><em>'H-He's engaged!'<em> Of all the idiotic things he could do!  
>"It's alright, you didn't know." Ichigo stood up slowly. "You should go ahead and get some rest. You'll need to have another rabies shot in three days." He began to leave the room. "Goodnight, Runt."<p>

After that door closed, he got up and was thankful that all his clothes were still on him—shoes included, so it would be easier to sneak out. There was no way he was going to stay around after making a fool of himself and believed that the carrot top had actually felt something for him. He was not going to stay in order to deal with that kind of humiliation, and so he waited ten minutes before escaping the clinic. At least, he thought that he was escaping undetected but, the majority of the family heard him leaving.

_'Made it,_' he thought proudly after closing the front door. Toushirou turned to walk home, only to silently gasp at the wolf standing behind him. _'Oh… it's you…'_ These wolves would be the death of him; always coming silently—especially this one, but wait. _'This wolf turns into a human, he is a student at my school, and has Physical Education on Wednesdays with me that I know of…'_ Granted, there were six classes that were on the courts that day, but their class left first— _'He's in __**my**__ class…'_

The wolf stared at him before taking a few steps down the sidewalk until turning to look at the boy to persuade him to hurry up. Toushirou got the idea quickly, hurrying down the one-step before slipping, and he knew that this was going to hurt badly. Pain never came to him, instead, it was an embrace of something fuzzy, soft, and extremely warm… his arm was around its neck. His massive head caught him before allowing the white-haired classmate fall to the ground for more damages to that broken arm.

_"Thank you,"_ it was one of the few things, other than 'I am sorry,' that he could say completely without using his left hand. The wolf nodded before limping away with Toushirou following him at his side who watched the blood splatters form on the pavement. _'He's still severely wounded because of me…'_ If only he were stronger. His hand reached out to touch the fur on his side, watching the spot twitch at the contact while stopping to look at him. _'I need to get stronger…'_ Tears formed in his eyes. _"I am sorry."_

The wolf snorted before continuing on the path.

"You got some nerve, Hitsugaya." A voice called above their heads. Toushirou looked to find where it was coming from, but found Renji on a rooftop before he jumped off and landed on the ground in front of them. "Even for a human, you stick out like a sore thumb and get our Alpha into more trouble than he needs because you're self-centered." He pointed to the wolf. "He was heavily injured because of you!"

_'That's enough Renji,'_ the wolf bared his fangs, snarling in a warning manner. _'It was Grimmjow and—'_  
>"I know who it was, the pack smelt them back at the park. Those idiots respected you, but now this runt comes along, and they know that they can stick it to you!" Renji glared, showing fangs. "Damn human…"<br>"Renji!" A female called angrily before hopping down to the scene. "Don't forget the job that was given to you by Ichigo, if he means _anything_ to you, you'll honor it!" She turned to the wolf, and hugged him.  
>"Freakin' Rukia." The redhead snorted angrily, but noticed how Toushirou watched her holding the wolf. "Runt!" He barked. "Don't get any ideas about our Alpha, he's ours—and you can't have <em>Ichigo<em> either!"  
><em>'W-What?'<em> Toushirou faltered slightly when hearing him say this. _'I don't even know what he looks like!'_

_'Either you get out of my way, or I'll force you to.'_ The wolf bared his fangs with a long snarl.  
>"Renji…" Rukia warned. "Just move aside, he's wounded as it is… just leave tonight alone."<br>"He's changed since that runt arrived!" He yelled angrily. "I hate that he comes to his aide!"  
>"So do I, but I deal with it!" Yelling this at him with as much anger in her voice. "So deal with it!"<p>

"Shut up you spoiled pompous rich-girl!"

Out of nowhere, a midnight-black wolf lunge from the darkness of the park across the street and attacked Renji for his insults. Toushirou faintly recognized the creature from Monday after school, but then he saw Renji transform into a wolf as well, and definitely remembered him. The two began to fight with everything they had before Rukia ran into the mess and transformed into a wolf as well, it was too much for one _human_ to understand. The wolf huddled him to the steps of the house that they were in front of to keep him safe while he turned to jump into the midst of the fight too.

He grabbed Renji by the scruff of his neck in which sent him into fits of pain as he yelped and whined at the force on him. The one that came out of nowhere earlier had continued trying to attack the one that was being scolded by their Alpha, so it was the next on the list to be tackled into the ground to hear its howling pain. Rukia was growling at Renji's face as if trying to be cocky about him being in trouble, also causing her to be scolding by the Alpha mounting her from behind to force dominance on her. She had quickly stopped her task to submit before he could bare his fangs at her too, and eventually, she rolled on her back. Renji thought that he could get up from the ground since he was no longer being scolded, but with one snap of those fangs, and he was back on the ground, urinating in submission. He knew he was the one in the most amount of trouble now, which was why he wanted to make up for it quickly.

Toushirou watched carefully at how they submitted to their leader, knowing that he had to remember. _'Kurosaki said, to avoid getting into trouble, learn about the ways to submit to wolves. It would save me.'_ He saw the wolf step away from them with a growl, and the three crowded him to lick his face quickly.

Once they scattered off, the wolf turned to look at the boy who froze in worry until watching him slowly lie down as a sign for him to hop on. He did not want to irritate the wounds that the large creature may or may not have, but he was not going to disobey this particular wolf anytime soon. Toushirou got on slowly but surely, and the wolf got up to walk in the direction of the apartments… or, so he thought. His attention was turned to the small lake nearby—a pond that people could fish at, but it seemed like there was a young wolf trying to do. With a loud bark, the cub cringed in fear before looking up to see who had caught it doing something that it was not supposed to.

_'It's pretty…'_ Toushirou thought with a smile. _'Is it an albino wolf?'_

It hurried over, pawing at the wolf's face to give it kisses before two large wolves trotted over to do the same thing, only to be snarled at. They were scolded for allowing the cub to wonder freely at night, so they rolled over on the ground for forgiveness that was eventually granted. Toushirou heard shuttering from behind and worriedly shook the wolf's fur to have him look in the direction; the three wolves from earlier. Something was happening, more and more wolves were coming, and the wolf that Toushirou was on gave a loud howl that the others joined. It was almost like a song from the cries of the wolves; it was sad but beautiful as they were calling for others while hearing distant howling.

They were all getting excited about something…

Soon, dozens of wolves began to appear from everywhere around; different colors and sizes amongst the lot of them. Very few paid attention to Toushirou as they scurried to the Alpha for their greeting, but soon enough, he saw two females that looked very similar to the one he was riding. _'Why has he summoned all these wolves?'_ The insignificant human thought to himself. With a fierce bark, the wolves ran in the same direction, and the wolf he was on, had glanced at him over his shoulder. _'Is this… the run that Kurosaki mentioned?'_ Toushirou nodded; wanting to join.

Once they had their understanding, the wolf dashed off in a full run in front of the united packs, heading in front of what seemed to be Renji and the one wolf met after Physical Education on Wednesday. What was weird, this wolf led them to the woods for two minutes before breaking away from them to be on higher ground. Curiosity was answered as they could see all of the wolves running freely in separate packs now, and they were all having fun running around. Everything seemed nice and peaceful until the wolf turned his head to look over his shoulder where a black, slightly larger wolf, came to their side. The wolf he was perched on began to back up before turning around slowly to leave, so Toushirou managed to lie on his back, holding his fur tightly. It stopped in place after a little while, forcing Toushirou to look, and see that they were at his apartment.

As soon as his small form shifted slightly, the wolf let him down carefully and watched as he tried to reach for the key on the doorframe. The wolf placed his snout between his legs and hoisted him up to grab the key; never hearing the mute sharp gasp before inwardly moaning at the contact beneath the sensitive male organ. He was careful back on the ground and bowed to the wolf quickly as a thank you to leave, but it caught scent of the arousal instantly. All Toushirou wanted to do now was die on the spot as the wolf slowly realized what he did, but Toushirou moved his right hand, signaling with characters.

_"D.O…I…L.I.C.K…Y.O.U.R…F.A.C.E…T.O.O?"_ The wolf only looked emotionless at him before silently leaving.

* * *

><p><strong>IMPORTANT:<strong> Okay, so you can't really expect me to update any time soon. I am moving in 20 days, 1300 miles (2093 kilometers) away from where I'm currently living. It'll be a while for me to get back on my game!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04**

**Boy who Couldn't cry Wolf**

**Now—**

His face was flushed deeply after stirring awake from his slumber; he was drenched in sweat from head to toe from his impure dreams. Beneath the thin covers, he could see a small tent below his waist that he would have to nurse before leaving his room. It was the third time this month that he had been too engulfed in his dreams that it were taking a wrong turn recently. He had no idea who the wolf really was and he had been trying to place a human face to that one beast was his time killer.

_'If I don't hurry up, Kurosaki will probably be angry.'_ Although he was upset that Ichigo pulled away from their kiss that night five weeks ago, he was still attracted to him. _'Both Kurosaki and that wolf… jeez.'_ He looked at his cast, knowing that there was one week left before it could be removed. _'That wolf… I have not seen it since that night either… ugh, he probably thinks I'm a pervert from getting aroused by him touching me.'_ His hand fell beneath his pajama bottoms, caressing the strain that the awoken with.

Knowing that he had no choice but to be up to get ready for school the day, he scurried to the bathroom to loosen the tension. It took little time to release himself once he stopped thinking about the wolf and picture Ichigo taking his morning shower in his locker room. Although he was a bit scared to be around him now because, not only did Ichigo know that he was mute, he now knew what his orientation was. On the other hand… at least he was able to be a little relieved to know that someone was aware of both these facts. His family did not know about a majority of this after his father –before he could continue on that very thought, he hurried to get ready, and went to school.

It turned out that the janitor unlocked the school at five in the morning, but every time Toushirou tried to beat Ichigo to school, he was there somewhere. With there being five minutes to six in the morning, he knew that he would be changing to head for the gym shortly; meaning he had five minutes to get in there and change too! Ichigo told him that he could work out in the gym with him after learning about the equipment, which took a solid six days. So when it came to actually working out, he had been doing his best with his legs until he can evenly work on his arms—but even that would take time. As he made it to the locker room in a hurry, he walked in quietly since his classmate told him not to run in there—

"I'm telling you Kurosaki, Hitsugaya-kun is not good for you." It was Sousuke's voice. "Did you even know that he was raped multiple times? That he's mute because he wants attention." There was no answer. Toushirou tried to sneak closer. "He's a violent little creature too. I bet you don't even know about his late best friend; Kusaka Soujirou, right?" Turquoise hues widened in horror. "They were walking—"

"I'm tired of hearing your trash talk. If I want to know something about him, I'll ask him directly. I don't need to find things out through secondhand parties." Ichigo stated firmly while rustling something, most likely his clothes. "The Lycanthropes have accepted him gradually. Humans, have begun to accept him."

"And none would have given him the chance if you weren't there." He flopped something. "This is a folder of all records and history of that boy. I think the one that would most interest you is his father—"  
>"I let you stay alive, Aizen." Ichigo warned, closing his locker. "Get out of my sight before I do it myself."<br>Said male smirked before walking off. "Whatever you say, Kurosaki." He left the lockers swiftly.  
>Toushirou silently sighed in relief that he was not found out— "You can come out, Runt." He flinched in fear. He could not believe that he had been found out. "I know your there, you're not in trouble."<p>

His body slowly walked around the row of lockers, looking at Ichigo in a guilty manner.

"Here," it was a folder that had his name on it—this was what the man was giving him? It was huge! "I bet that has all the things that you want to bury, go ahead and burn it." Toushirou looked at him in a puzzled fashion. "It's says your name on it, right? I don't see my name written on it!" He sat down on the bench to take a sip of water from bottle after putting the folder next to him. "So there, it's yours."

Toushirou fell to his knees and clung to the carrot top's shirt, crying at his generosity.

"H-Hey! Hurry up and get changed! I'm not going to wait for you!" He was taken aback by the affection, although he was somewhat used to it. "Look, it's just like I told Aizen. I don't want to know about you, unless the information comes _from_ you." His attention went to a distant wall as Toushirou looked up at him. "It's your life, and everyone is allowed to have their secrets. You, are no exception to this, okay?"

Toushirou choked on his silent sobs, nodding. _'Stop saying words that I want to hear!'_

"Come on, hurry up or I'm going to leave you here." To prove it, he stood up. The other tugged the carrot top's arm pleadingly before scrambling to open his locker. Toushirou switched his shirts easily, but fumbled with his pants, harming his broken arm. "Do you want help?" The small one stood still because of this, and eventually nodded. "You know," Ichigo came over and undid the button before halfway zipping his pants down, "you shouldn't go so fast that you'll cause yourself damage. Take better care of yourself."

He nodded as if he were being scolded, but tugged his pants off to switch them with shorts, and then changed his shoes. They were Velcro shoes until he could tie the laces again so it would be easier for him—well, Ichigo forced him to do so at least. Once he was ready for action, he grabbed the folder to shove into his locker before closing it so he could follow the carrot top. His eyes looked him over as he thought of everything that he said before they headed towards the gym; Ichigo was very considerate.

Toushirou sped up a little to snag his classmate's shirt before they left the lockers entirely, and the other looked at him. _"I…W.A.N.T…T.O…K.N.O.W… W.H.Y…Y.O.U…A.R.E...S.O…U.N.D.E.R.S.T.A.N.D.I.N.G." _It did not make too much sense to the other it seemed. _"Y.O.U…K.N.O.W…T.H.A.T…I…A.M…G.A—"_

"If you're asking me why I am still around you after that kiss, and after learning your orientation, you're belittling me. And that's insulting." Ichigo stated firmly. "You can like whoever you want, you can _be_ with whoever you want, and no one can make you do differently." He carefully placed a hand on the small of Toushirou's back to coax him forth. "Orientation does not define a creature. Toushirou is Toushirou."

If Ichigo was not pressing him forward, he would have stopped dead in his tracks. _'Why…'_ The tears that he thought he had stopped, had began streaming down his face once more. _'Why do you treat me as a human being…'_ These were words that he wanted to hear most; words of understanding and warmth.  
>"W-Why are you crying again Runt!" Ichigo roared with slight anger. "Look! I'm sorry if I said something that offended you or brought back some bad memories—!" The other shook his head rabidly to decline the assumption, so he calmed down. "What is it? Are you hurt? Did you do something stupid again?"<br>Toushirou looked up at him, smiling with tears dripping off his cheeks. _"Thank you."_ He motioned with his hands. _'As rough edged as Kurosaki is… as aggressive as I know he is… how could he be so accepting?'_ A callused hand came up, drying his cheeks with a thumb. _'I bet a wolf would lick the tears away, huh?'_  
>"You probably want that wolf to wipe your tears, huh?" Ichigo had a feeling that it was running through his mind. "I'll be happy to oblige, with your permission." He saw him nod, so he leaned down and licked the remaining tears away. "I wonder what you find interesting in that mutt, he's just an Alpha…"<p>

Even so, Toushirou could see more emotion in that wolf's eyes than in this classmate next to him.

After a short thirty minutes of intense work out in order Toushirou could keep his legs useable for the day with enough strength to go again on Monday, they went to the lockers. Ichigo stripped his clothes and went to a stall before Toushirou, after placing a plastic bag around his arm to protect the cast. The words that he had said had burned a hole through his mind—turquoise hues widened at the sight of two hands pressing against the wall that the showerhead was. Toushirou could sense that it was the carrot top, no one else would want to be there so early in the morning except Abarai Renji.

"Now that I have you cornered, I would like to as you one simple question." It was Ichigo's voice, and it made all the difference in the world to him. "Turn around and look me in the eyes, please." Slowly but surely did as told. "I can tell that you are attracted to me a little, even before the kiss last month. But, I also know that you've been getting a little too involved with that wolf on some occasions." His voice was gentle; not sign of anger or hostility. "Are your interests for the wolf, whom you've not seen the face of, stronger than your interest for me?" Toushirou looked away, looking as guilty as sin itself. "That's all that I wanted to know. I'm going to the Music Room after I get dressed." With that, he left.

Toushirou turned off the water and came out of the stall to look at him worriedly—hoping that he did not hurt his feelings. He hurried to see him getting dressed, so he wrapped a towel around his waist as quickly as he could before huddling to the carrot top. Ichigo looked at him, and he could actually read the hurt in his eyes; there had to be something that he could do for him. He meant as much to him as the wolf did, but the connection with the wolf felt stronger, even though he knew it was wrong.

"I'm not upset," Ichigo drew his attention to him. "It's just that, having interest for a wolf can be dangerous. He could be scolded, kicked out of the pack, ridiculed… and possibly abandoned, if he were to return those feelings to you." He tied his shoes and stood up tall. "You choose the most dangerous of both worlds, don't you?" His hand came up and patted the head of white hair. "Just be yourself though."

As he was about to leave, Toushirou grabbed his hand in hopes of waiting briefly for him to think of a way to show him that he was important to him too. Thinking quickly while drawing his eyes to his locker made him know what to do to prove that their relationship was strong. He opened his locker to bring out the folder that most likely held every dirty little secret on him, and offered it to the carrot top.

"I said it was yours Runt, why—" Toushirou motioned it to him even harder. "You want me to take it?" The other nodded nervously; worried about what he would find. "Even if I took it, I wouldn't read it." He received sad eyes that were disappointed in his words, and placed it in his hands. "Runt… I said—"

_"I…W.A.N.T…Y.O.U…T.O…R.E.A.D…E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G…"_ He spelt with one hand, not able to signal words without motion in his left arm. _"K.U.R.O.S.A.K.I…I.S…I.M.P.O.R.T.A.N.T…T.O…M.E…T.O.O…P.L.E.A.S.E?"_

Ichigo sighed softly. "If that's what you want." The other nodded. "Well, hurry up and get dressed."

Doing as told, the small one got clothed once removing the bag on his arm, but had trouble with the button on his pants again. His eyes glanced up pleadingly to the orange-haired male whom looked at him with a helpless smile; it was all that was needed before he put the folder down, and buttoned it for him in order to zip it up right after it. As they finished, he dried his hair so that they could hurry up—only then did he catch the scent of Renji as he was snatching the folder.

"Hitsugaya's information, huh?" The redhead snorted playfully. "What's in here—"

"Put it down this instant before I rip your throat out and feed it to the pack!" Ichigo snarled, his casual human teeth became threatening fangs with Toushirou behind him, and both had jumped to his anger.  
>"H-Hey… s-sorry…" He sent the folder back down slowly, and then cautiously backed up. "I was only playing Ichigo…" His eyes averted in fear of how much trouble he would be in now. "I-Ichigo… I—"<br>"Renji," this time, his voice was a little calmer with the threat gone. Renji came over and embraced him gently while warned. "You know better than to take what's not yours, playful or otherwise, right?"  
>"After your soccer game today, can we spend the night together, please?" To sink his hooks in him, he nuzzled into his neck, holding him tightly. "I didn't mean to make you so angry at me, I swear to it."<p>

"You horny cub, you just want in my pants." Ichigo removed him in order to collect his things, but Renji merely turned around to lean his back against his front. He growled. "You just want to be dominated."  
>"I can't help it if I want you to dominate me," the redhead whispered softly. "I want you so bad right now that I don't care what form you take me in." Hands were placed on his hips. "They won't find us."<br>"Maybe not, but they'll smell us on each other. Even though my _mate_ hasn't been decided yet, they have been shedding blood in their fight over me." Slowly, he pulled away. "Not here, and not now."  
>"But you would mount that runt behind you without hesitation, wouldn't you?" Before he knew it, he was thrown against a trashcan. "I-Ichigo wait! I'm sorry!" He cringed in pain. "You know how I get!"<p>

"Sadly, I do." Ichigo came over and patted Toushirou's head. "From now on, he's a pack member."

They stared at him in surprise. "I-Ichigo… you can't… but he's a—"

"Any who objects my decision," he gathered his things and started to walk out. "Will have to kill me."  
>"The pack will welcome him in open arms." Renji started; smirking. "Once he's seen <em>King's<em> face."  
>"Renji, don't make me kill you." Although, doing <em>that<em> would save his butt with Toushirou.  
>"If he's going to be a part of the pack, then he needs to know how dangerous you are!"<p>

Ichigo looked over towards Toushirou to see that he was not fazed by the words. "I suppose he would." He glanced down to flex his hand. "If I do, I'll be expelled for a month, it will be your job as beta to watch over the runt, do you understand the task I am giving you?" His tone was dark and serious; it was scary.

"You're finally going to kill Aizen, aren't you."

* * *

><p>Something was different about Ichigo all day since a few hours ago; everyone was sure to stay out of his way when he was passing by. Then it came to the soccer game that was canceled because of something about the carrot top being too dangerous now. Renji had joined him—as did Toushirou with no choice after the game was rescheduled, and the former let out a calling howl. The latter watched as many students began to run in their direction… and there was a fair amount of teachers and students.<p>

"I have announced to Renji this morning that Hitsugaya Toushirou is a part of our pack. For now, he is forbidden to talk to anyone until I say otherwise." This was to protect Toushirou from the others until he was ready to admit being mute. The large group wavered in displease. "Anyone who disagrees, come and challenge me this instant!" A group of three stepped forward. "Then let's get this over with!"

Toushirou stared at him in horror for his brave act that was brief before he started to growl dangerously while his eyes began to glow gold. He watched in fear as soon as his bright orange hair turned pure white… his clothes began to rip apart while fur grew. His eyes could not believe what they were seeing; Kurosaki Ichigo was actually a wolf—but it had no features of his human form!

Two of the three backed down immediately, but the tall muscular teacher laughed merrily. "Hell yeah!" The man transformed in to a wolf and charged after him with pleasure, only to have fangs in his neck.

As other disagreeing humans charged in to fight as wolves, Renji spoke quietly to Toushirou. "I don't know how you changed him, but I guess I'm glad you did, because the Ichigo I know wouldn't take this form unless it's for something or someone he really wants to fight for." He looked to him. "Thank you."

_'Kurosaki is fighting… for me…?'_ Toushirou watched the viscous battle in fear for the white wolf. But after winning his battles, they heard someone clapping, so they looked and glared at the person. _'Aizen.'_

"Did the information I gave you this morning drive you to this beastly stage, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Sousuke smiled devilishly, and Ichigo began to snarl at him. "Would you like to tell me how it feels to be such a monster that thirsts for blood? Or will you simple kill me to have your satisfaction?" He chuckled.

Renji continued to explain for Toushirou. "Now that Ichigo has taken this painful form, he'll go into a killing frenzy, starting with whoever pissed him off last that doesn't belong to our pack." He frowned slightly. "Once he kills Aizen, the school will know about it, and most likely kick him out of it as well."

Toushirou became worried about being separated from the classmate after what they went through during the past month. Doing the only thing he could think of, he ran over to the wolf as Renji yelled the small one's name before he reached Ichigo. He clung to the fur on his shoulder blade, crying and shaking his head in hopes of him understanding that this was not something that he wanted him to do. Tickling vibrations from the fierce growl did not stop him either, but he held onto him even tighter for his life.

After a long minute of waiting, Ichigo chose against killing Sousuke for Toushirou's sake, and allowed him on his back before walking away angrily. Everyone knew that Toushirou was going to be amongst the pack since Ichigo was determined to fight everyone, and still managed to listen to someone while in a frenzy. It seemed that someone had little control over him in this stage, so they would be fools for not accepting him into their pack…

* * *

><p><em>"S.O…Y.O.U…A.R.E…A…W.O.L.F?" <em>Toushirou frowned sadly, wishing that he were told about this before when Momo ask for him. The other merely lied down to sleep possibly if nothing else. He slapped his pant leg for attention, and the white wolf looked at him with a slight glare. _'What's with him suddenly?'_

"I told you, didn't I?" Renji's voice called out. "In this form, he's more wolf than he is anything else. You being a pack member, is what keeps you alive." He earned a warning growl. "I'm bringing your bag home, unless you want to take. You don't have any spare clothes except for boxers." The wolf snorted.  
><em>'Tell him that it's okay to tell others about his condition then.'<em> Ichigo thought quietly.  
>"His condition?" Shrugging, he looked to the other male. "He says it's okay for you to tell others about… some condition? But I know you're forbidden to talk to me, so…" He watched Toushirou look at Ichigo who nodded to him slowly for assurance. In return, Toushirou looked down worriedly, but nodded too.<br>_'He can't speak verbally, his words were locked away, and it's a mental problem for him.'_ Ichigo stated.  
>"You mean he's mute?" Renji was a little startled by this. "That's why you forbid him to talk to us? Jeez, I thought it was because of something else!" He turned to Toushirou once again, this time, using Japanese Sign Language. <em>"Most of the wolves in our pack learned Sign Language when Ichigo decided to do so."<em>

Toushirou's mouth dropped.

"Anyway," the redhead turned to the wolf. "You didn't get enough blood in your system, it's just a shame that no one is as strong as you—" A young black cub came running over. "I spoke too soon."

They watched as Ichigo's head perked in its direction before coming over and getting licks on his face before beginning to play. It was a young female it seemed, and Toushirou wondered if this was the female that he was supposed to end up with in the future. However, Renji liked Ichigo, and he was smiling at the scene between the two wolves, so the thought was unlikely.

Toushirou lightly tugged Renji's sleeve. He received his attention, so he pointed at the smaller wolf. "You don't know by his actions? That's his sister, Karin." His eyes widened at this. "Yuzu is her twin, but she's not a wolf, the lucky brat." They watched as she tackled Ichigo, rolling him over. "You're family now…"

He turned to look at Renji when hearing that he was being accepted despite his faults, but the wolves knew sign language in which helped him a lot. However, would that mean everyone would know what happened to him in the past—would they have to know everything about him? Toushirou began to get up slowly with fear of the thought, and Ichigo barked warningly at Renji before trotting over to them. It was only Ichigo that was aware of why he was _truly_ without voice, but very soon, Ichigo would know about everything that happened to him. His body was lightly sniffed to make sure he was not touched or harmed, and he wrapped his arms around his neck, burying his face into his fur.

"I only said to him that he was family now, and he became worried." Renji explained quietly.

It did not make sense to Ichigo why Toushirou would be worried about that, but the latter pointed to his bag, which contained the many dirty secrets. Did he want the folder back suddenly; if this was the case, he did not mind returning the papers to him if that was what he desired. His hand then pointed to Renji and Karin, shaking his head frantically as if he were trying to object to something, and then he knew it.

_'Tell him not to worry, even pack members have secrets from each other.'_ Ichigo mentally demanded.  
>The redhead nodded. "Runt," Toushirou looked at him. "Even pack members have secrets from each other, don't worry about… whatever you're worried about." He smirked. "It's only <em>human<em>, right?"  
>The white wolf snorted coming over and grabbing his bag. <em>'Take Karin home for me, Renji.'<em>

"You got it." Renji looked to Karin. "Come on Cub, I'll race you!" He transformed and ran off with her.

Ichigo gently nudged the boy forth to continue walking as he began to lead the way to prove that he would not wait for him. He was quickly followed, but was tugged on—Toushirou obviously wanted to be up on his back for more practice, and he allowed it. His time with him was softening him up, but at least he had more patience with him than he did with anyone else before. As he began to head towards the apartments, Toushirou nudged him to the opposite direction, so he played _Horse_ a little longer for him.

Toushirou lead him to the Kurosaki Clinic.

_'In that case, I'm going to get dressed first.'_ Ichigo walked around the clinic to the large estate in the back, and walked in through the open doors before trotting up the stairs until he saw a cat at the top of the stairs. _'Damn you, Yoruichi-san.'_ He growled loudly while in place, unhappy about the feline as he passed the bag to Toushirou carefully.

The cat pranced forth, leaning up against his legs as it purred pleasingly until finally taken; Ichigo picked it up in his mouth carefully before continuing to walk to his room. When they arrived, Toushirou got off his back to sit at the desk chair in order to stay out of his way as he placed the cat down. It quickly hopped up on the bed and swatted and the wolf's face playfully before it was time to talk about whatever needed to be said. Ichigo then transformed into human form as he lost the white in his hair and his gold hues became brown once again. Toushirou immediately turned to face the wall because his classmate stood there, with nothing but his birthday suit on.

"What reason do you have seeing me and not my father?" Ichigo asked as he got dressed. "If you want someone to entertain you, it's not me." He went into his closet, pulled out a robe, and threw it on the cat. "You know better than to do this around others, Yoruichi-san."  
>The feline turned into a woman. "Would you be jealous if I showed my body to your pack members?" She opened the robe for the male. "Come Ichigo, your wolf side is craving to have a piece of this." He came to her, covering her body. "I just wanted to check up on you."<br>"I'm fine, leave." She obeyed. "Although she's our sensei, she's feisty." Ichigo stretched before throwing himself on the bed. "Why did you want to come here? You know that I have to meet Renji tonight." Toushirou went through the bag. "What're y—"

The silent one handed him the folder.

"You want me to read it?" Toushirou nodded. "I'm not comfortable with that. I mean—just because it's empty here doesn't mean that I want to read the folder, their your—"  
>Toushirou pulled out a notebook and pen, quickly writing. <em>"I want you to know, so you can abandon me before you really consider me as family."<em> He received a disappointed look from the tall figure.  
>"I'm not going to <em>abandon<em> you based on history." The carrot top got up, locked the door, and flopped on the bed. "But, come here. If I'm going to read it, you might as well know what I'm reading."  
>He climbed up and sat next to him. "Nudge me when you don't want me to read anymore." Toushirou leaned against him, nodding nervously. "Or, I'll read while you're gone, and treat you to something."<p>

It was music to his ears in a way; he did not want to relive everything that was in the folder, so he took it from him to place on the desk. Ichigo then quietly asked him what it was that he wanted in order for him to fulfill the deal that he had offered to him. Toushirou instantly knew what it was that he wanted at this very moment, causing him to climb over Ichigo carefully to sit his lap. This was what he desired for a while now even though might be rejected from his wishful dreams, he still had to try.

"I won't have sex with you, yet." Ichigo stated softly. "I will give you everything except penetration. It'll be safer to know that you trust me, rather than attraction." He received a smile and a nod. "Do you want this form, or my wolf form, Toushirou?" It was a silent answer as Toushirou looked at him with lit eyes before kissing him. "Be good and let me know when I go too far."

Toushirou buried himself against Ichigo who did all the work by himself, and watched how he became a dominant creature. Although he was gentle about everything, there was a slight rough feeling to it, and it was different from his experiences. He curled up even more against the carrot top at the thought of others touching him, causing the larger male to stop his pursuit. It was quickly noticed by both of them that the interactions were too great for the smaller one to take in, and so Ichigo removed himself. His hand grabbed him to yank back down on the bed, earning a light growl before having him on his hands and knees with Ichigo against his backside. The words that Renji stated earlier had come flooding through his mind; remembering that Ichigo was more wolf than human.

He remembered that night when the Alpha wolf mounted Rukia for submission, and so he slowly fumbled to lie on his back, legs parted to have him do as he wanted. "I can't harm you," Ichigo told him softly. "You have been through a lot, and you are obviously still scarred." Toushirou looked away from him as if to call him a liar. "I'll lie with you, and allow you to spend the night if that's what you want."

Toushirou nodded and fell asleep.


End file.
